Rotten Tomatoes has become an indispensable guide among Hollywood studios and distributors, however independent filmmakers should not attach much significance to the reviews aggregator, an opening day panel at the inaugural American Film Convention (AFC) heard on Tuesday.
“Rotten Tomatoes is a serious metric in some people’s view,” Peter Ambrosio, co-owner of arthouse chain Lumiere Cinema, told the ‘New Era Of Distribution’ panel at The Music Box in Downtown Los Angeles. “If you have [social discovery platform] Letterboxd it’s much more effective as a film conversion metric… People are talking about movies but on different forums. I’m not saying a good review on Rotten Tomatoes is a bad thing though.”
Evan Saxon, president and head of international distribution at Abramorama, told the audience: “If I’m dealing with a music film or a documentary, the fan base doesn’t give a shit what anybody else thinks… On music films we hire film publicists to try to get exposure to the artist outside traditional music lanes… I never factor a review into any of our marketing.”
The panel of independent experts including Neil Williams from event cinema distributor Gathr and Christie Marchese, founder and CEO of social cinema platform Kinema, reminded attendees of the myriad of distribution platforms catering to a wide range of taste, and the need to be clear of the target audience.
“The 20th century was the century of mass media, the 21st century is the century of atomised media,” said Ambrosio. “Embrace it. You don’t necessarily need to reach a lot of people. Know your movie, and if you believe in it, you can find somebody else who believes in it, then take common sense steps to build on that.”
The panellists agreed that filmmakers should adopt a healthy rigour when dealing with distribution companies – even those with solid reputations – and not cede control while educating themselves about windows. “Familiarise yourself with the litany of VOD windows including LVOD – live-streaming of your event… Understanding all this is on you, rather than listening to [a distributor],” said Ambrosio.
“Holding on to your movie and getting experts to do each piece is better than handing over your film and paying a lot of money to one company,” said Marchese. Williams agreed, noting, “Teams are so important. Make sure there is an impact producer, a marketing specialist. Take your time. There are roll-outs where you spend a little bit and see how it does.”
Founded by independent filmmaker Mitesh Patel, AMC announced itself in April, one month after it had emerged that American Film Market was upping its longtime sticks in Santa Monica and moving to Las Vegas.
Patel brought on Slamdance Film Festival co-founder and former AFI Fest director Jon Fitzgerald as director of workshops and conferences and built a board and conference team.
AFC runs October 15-17. Highlights include workshops with a strong emphasis on acting through the Actors’ Nest talks as well as DIY filmmaking, one-on-one sessions with experts, and a convention floor housing exhibitors from film schools, production companies, and film associations.
Wednesday and Thursday sessions will hear from Searchlight Pictures’ head of development and production Gina Kwon and Reid Shane from The Morning Show on a television panel; a sales session featuring Alex Nohe, attorney Steven Beer, and producer and Matthew Helderman of BondIt Media Capital and Buffalo 8; a talk with The Dark Knight Rises cinematographer Wally Pfister; and IndieRights co-founders Linda Nelson and Michael Madison presenting on international sales.
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